A design knowledge management system to support collaborative information product evolution

The Internet has led to the widespread trade of digital information product s. These products exhibit unusual properties such as high fixed costs and n ear-zero marginal costs. They need to be developed on compressed time frame s by spatially and temporally distributed teams, have short lifecycles, and high perishability. This paper addresses the challenges that information p roduct development (IPD) teams face. Drawing on the knowledge intensive nat ure of IPD tasks, we identify potential solutions to these problems that ca n be provided by a knowledge management system. We discuss a prototype Know ledge Management System (KMS) that supports linking of artifacts to process es, flexible interaction and hypermedia services, distribution annotation a nd authoring as well as providing visibility to artifacts as they change ov er time. Using a case from the publishing industry, we illustrate how-conte xtualized decision paths/traces provide a rich base of formal and informal knowledge that supports IPD teams. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.